Agnietė Lisičkinaitė ir Igor Shugaleev / BE COMPANY (Lithuania / Belarus) – CLAP & SLAP
Duration: 45 min
ATTENTION. The performance contains scenes of partial nudity.
Recommended age range 12+
The performance is part of the Baltic Dance Platform programme.
The performance “CLAP & SLAP” explores a complex and paralysing tension which emerged in Eastern Europe (and between Lithuania and Belarus specifically), following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th 2022. This tension is examined through historical, political, geographical, and social lenses, alongside the personal experiences of Agnietė and Igor.
Being politically engaged in the events of the Belarusian revolution in 2020, Igor participated in protests in Belarus, while Agnietė participated in demonstrations in front of the Belarusian embassy in Vilnius. Igor was forced to leave his homeland; Agnietė made the decision not to collaborate with Russian-speaking artists.
Today, meeting on the same stage, these two artists make an attempt at a dialogue that seems impossible outside of art: dialogue between fear and the necessity of action, between collective and personal responsibilities, between personal tragedy and geopolitical catastrophe. Without naive ambition to find solutions to political or military conflicts, the performance hopes to invoke political and philosophical reflection upon our own ability to distinguish responsibility and guilt, nationalism and patriotism, self-defence and aggression, seeking to trust and trying to protect.
How can we maintain a balance between the need for self-defense and the risk of mirroring the very aggression we are fighting against? Can we respect each other’s differences, uphold personal beliefs, and protect individual freedoms without infringing on others’ rights? This is the line of questioning, to which Agnietė and Igor expose themselves and their audience.
The performance has been selected for Aerowaves Twenty26. The performance received the Special Jury Prize at the Sirenos International Theatre Festival (Lithuania, 2025).
Dance artists Agnietė Lisičkinaitė (Lithuania) and Igor Shugaleev (Belarus/Poland) are internationally recognized for their politically engaged work, exploring protest culture, the impact of political regimes, and personal interpretations of freedom. Central to their creative practices is the physically exhausted body, symbolizing those who are oppressed by various systems.
Igor Shugaleev is a Belarusian-born choreographer, actor, and performer based in Warsaw. He graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Arts in Minsk in 2012 and began his career as a performer in independent theatre and dance. Since 2019, he has focused on creating interdisciplinary solo projects, developing an artistic language at the intersection of dance, physical theatre, performance, and political activism. His practice explores the vulnerable body in extreme states through endurance, repetition, and intensity.
His work “375 0908 2334 / The Body You Are Calling Is Currently Not Available”, created with Sergey Shabohin, has been presented at major European festivals, including Internationale Tanzmesse NRW, Santarcangelo Festival, and SPRING Performing Arts Festival, and received international recognition for engagement with repression in Belarus and the struggle for freedom. In his projects, Shugaleev addresses queer identity, forced migration, systemic violence, and bodily resistance, treating the body as a site of political expression and reclaiming its right to voice and autonomy. He is currently a member of the ensemble at Nowy Teatr in Warsaw.
Agnietė Lisickinaitė is a Lithuanian choreographer, performer, and educator whose work bridges contemporary dance, political engagement, and civic action. A graduate of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (BA in Contemporary Dance, MA in Choreography), she currently teaches there, mentoring emerging artists. Lisickinaitė explores the body as a site of resistance and protest.
Her solo work “Hands Up”—a participatory performance investigating gesture, contradiction, and solidarity—has been presented in over 10 countries, including at New Baltic Dance (Vilnius), Santarcangelo Festival (Italy), What You See Festival (Utrecht), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), and Toulouse Biennale, among others. She is the co-founder of Be kompanijos (Be Company), a socially engaged dance platform developed with Greta Grinevičiūtė. From 2020 to 2024, she served as chairwoman of the Lithuanian Contemporary Dance Association and remains active on its board, advocating for the dance field through policy and community work. Guided by the belief that choreography is a form of activism, Lisickinaitė uses movement as a tool for dialogue, resistance, and transformation.
Authors of idea, choreography: Agnietė Lisičkinaitė, Igor Shugaleev
Performers: Agnietė Lisičkinaitė, Igor Shugaleev
Composer: Agnė Matulevičiūtė
Scenographer: Oles Makukhin
Dramaturg: Bush Hartsorn
Consultant director: Olga Lapina
Light designer: Povilas Laurinaitis
Production: Be Company / Agnietė Lisičkinaitė
Funded by: Lithuania culture council
Creative residencies: Radialsystem Berlin, Studio ALTA, Bora Bora dance centre, Santarcangelo festival.
Premiere: 2025, “New Baltic dance” festival, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Photos by: Donatas Ališauskas.
Website: www.bekompanijos.lt
Instagram: @superagniete / @shugaleev / @be_kompanijos
Facebook: @Agnietė Lisičkinaitė / @Igor Shugaleev
Photos by Donatas Ališauskas.
The Baltic Dance Platform is a biennial event held in a different Baltic capital since 2019. It consistently and purposefully showcases contemporary dance from the Baltic region and its artists in both international and regional contexts. At the same time, the Baltic Dance Platform provides opportunities for collaboration among cultural professionals and the exchange of knowledge and experience. This year The Baltic Dance Platform will take place on April 22–25 in Vilnius.
Baltic Dance Platform organizers: Lithuanian Dance Information Centre, Latvian Dance Information Centre, Estonian Dance Performance and Development Center “Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava”
Partners: Contemporary Dance Association (Lithuania), Association of Choreographers (Latvia), Estonian Union of Dance Art and Dance Education
Supported by: Vilnius City Municipality, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture, Lithuanian Council for Culture, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Estonia.
